Pomelo (Citrus grandis) peel is one of the under-utilized waste materials that have potential in the production of functional ingredients, due to its high fiber content. This study was conducted to isolate and characterize cellulose and nanocellulose from pomelo albedo. Cellulose was prepared via alkali treatment followed by bleaching process, while nanocellulose was produced via hydrolysis using sulfuric acid. The physicochemical and structural properties of the produced materials were characterized using proximate analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) and water holding capacity (WHC). Proximate analysis showed that pomelo albedo contains 72.62% carbohydrate, 16.13% moisture, 6.27% protein, 3.41% ash and 1.56% fat. FTIR spectra for cellulose and nanocellulose confirms absorption bands characteristic of pure celluloses at 3334, 2902, 1630, 1427, 1030 and 896 cm-1. The crystallinity index (CrI) of the isolated nanocellulose was found considerably higher than that of cellulose with the value of 60.27% and 57.47%, respectively. Water holding capacity (WHC) of nanocellulose was also higher (p<0.05) than cellulose with the value of 12.75 g water/g and 8.9 g water/g respectively. We conclude that pomelo albedo can be a principal source of natural cellulose and nanocellulose materials which can be further manipulated for food ingredient applications.

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